Ideas for Fundraising/Raising Awareness

[cmlee1]

Hello,

This maybe discussed already here...so I apologize if that is the case. I had preeclampsia with my twins and delivered at 32 weeks. I live overseas in Okinawa on a military base. I have successfully gotten the ob/gyn at the base hospital and the family practice clinic here to provide the new pamphlets from the Preeclampsia Foundation. It was easy for me to order them and I was pleasantly surprised at how receptive they were to having the pamphlets available to their patients. I still want to do more. I would love to hear suggestions on what I might do here...there are so many pregnant women and unfortunately I do not think they are getting enough information. I am not sure if this is common practice back in the States now...but they do not even check urine at any of the routine visits. And according to my pregnant friends...the doctors did not even discuss preeclampsia with them. I am willing to help out in a variety of ways...just do not know what else to do at this point. Thanks in advance for any information/suggestions anyone has to offer.

[cmlee1]

I should also have said that I had my twins 3 years ago in Northern Virginia. I was seen by specialists throughout my pregnancy and still feel like I was not informed of the issues with preeclampsia.

[dawn_d]

Hi cmlee1 !

So glad you reached out with this message! (I have a friend who was born in Okanawa).

Anyway, we are happy to help you find a way to use your dedication to help others. Unfortunately, far too many women share your experience of feeling they were not adequately informed about the risks of preeclampsia and related disorders. Here in the U.S. urine testing is standard practice at prenatal appointments, and along with blood pressure checks are often the first solid indication that doctors have that something is wrong with the mother’s health and pregnancy.
Part of our mission is to improve health care practices and educate the public of the signs and symptoms so women can be empowered to advocate for the best attention and care. The brochure campaign is a major piece of that. So thank you for getting them out into your community.

Fundraising is another vital part of the work we do. Every dollar raised helps to advance the Foundation’s whole mission…..and save lives. If raising money or collecting donations is of interest to you, I can help you think through an event or project. If you haven’t already, take a moment to look through the Make A Difference section of our website where you’ll find info on how to become a volunteer, or even how sharing your own story can be helpful to others.
Click this link: http://www.preeclampsia.org/make-a-difference

I'd also like to connect you with our Exec Dir, Eleni Tsigas, who can share more about our International efforts.

If you would, email me at Dawn.Detweiler@preeclampsia.org and let me know your email address so we can talk more specifically outside of the forum.

thanks!
~Dawn

[eleni]

This is interesting that you mention this issue about proteinuria not being checked. In the last month, I have heard of this issue from more than one mother in the military medicine system and have confirmed from an Navy OBGYN that in fact the military prenatal protocol now does NOT include routine testing for proteinuria. I do not understand how they can do that given the existing ACOG practice bulletin, but I'd love for any of our military visitors to stop by with any insights.

It's great that you've been able to get them to carry our patient education brochures. Perhaps another step would be working with the docs and corpsmen to look at their routine prenatal education and encourage PE education as part of that, starting around 20 weeks. We'd recommend routinely asking about signs and symptoms - literally asking "have you experienced any visual disturbances? persistent headache?" etc., and giving the mom a refrigerator magnet to take home. We've met a lot of AWHONN nurses who serve in the military and they've been excited about our patient education materials, as well. Sometimes it just takes one person asking to get the gears in motion!

Eleni